DENVER -- Carmelo Anthony had nothing but nice things to say about the Nets, their ownership, their organization and their future the last few days. But he did nothing but bad things to them on the court Saturday night.

That, in a nutshell, is the reason the Nets want Anthony in their uniform. They want someone who can make plays down the stretch of games. This four-game West Coast trip proved the Nets don’t have that kind of player consistently.

Anthony scored a game-high 28 points, including the Nuggets’ last six, and was the defender on the key stop that sent the Nets home with a tough 107-103 loss.

It was tough because the Nuggets seemed to be on the verge of taking control of this game on at least four different occasions. But the Nets kept fighting. Not to show Anthony what he could be a part of if they were to trade for him, but because they wanted to win this game for themselves.

The Nets came back from 13 down at the end of a long road trip and had a chance to tie the game with 14.9 seconds left. But Brook Lopez, who has struggled being the Nets’ go-to guy, missed a layup attempt with 14.9 seconds. Anthony was the defender. He contested the shot, but Lopez should have gone up and dunked the ball.

Chalk it up to another learning experience for the Nets and Lopez. If he went up strong, maybe he would have drawn a foul on Anthony. But Lopez isn’t playing physically enough. He’s becoming too much of a jump shooter, as evidenced by his lack of free-throw attempts. He took just two last night and they came late in the fourth quarter as a result of a loose-ball foul on the other end. He took two in Friday’s loss to the Kings and two in Wednesday’s loss at Utah. By contrast, Nene attempted 15 foul shots last night for the Nuggets.

The Nets need more from Lopez. He scored 20, but it was a quiet 20. Derrick Favors and Jordan Farmar each had 14, and they seemed to have a bigger impact on this game than Lopez. The Nets need much more from Devin Harris. He had 12 points and missed six of his nine shots.

This is why the Nets need a player like Anthony and why they’re bent on acquiring him. It’s not often a player of his ability becomes available. And when he does and you can present a package like the Nets can -– Favors, two No. 1 picks and the expiring contracts of Troy Murphy and perhaps Kris Humphries –- you’re going to be in the mix.

Anthony, of course, had the biggest impact on this game. You expect that from the best player on the court.

After the Nets cut it two midway through the fourth, Anthony answered with a three-point play. After the Nets got within three around the two-minute mark, Anthony scored inside. After the Nets cut it to two on Travis Outlaw’s 3-pointer moments later, Anthony came down and scored on Outlaw. The Nets felt it was an offensive foul: Avery Johnson said five times it was an offensive foul in his post-game press conference, but never mentioned Anthony’s name.

"It's a tough break," Johnson said.

Then, after the Nets cut it to two with a chance to tie, Anthony defended Lopez on a switch. Lopez missed, Anthony grabbed the rebound and hit the game-icing foul shots.

“They got some guys, man,” Anthony said. “[Anthony] Morrow can shoot. Lopez is going to be a great big man in this league one day if he’s not already. Don’t misquote me on that: he is a good big man in this league right now. They’re just trying to figure it out.

“Avery is heading in the right direction with that squad that he has.”

The day before, Anthony told me, “Prokhorov is interesting. Jay-Z is interesting. The future of that organization is interesting. Their moving to Brooklyn is interesting. There’s a lot there.”

Anthony said all these nice things about the Nets, but it really doesn't matter. It only will if and when the time comes when he has to commit to play for them, if the Nets can make a deal with Denver.

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Coach’s Corner

“I saw an offensive foul on the Nuggets player, on a Nuggets player, by our bench. I saw an offensive foul. Boy, that’s a tough one to swallow, a tough one to swallow. Also, we had a chance to get a dunk underneath the basket, but it didn’t go down for us. If you don’t like this Nets team and the brand of basketball that we’re playing on a back-to-back game of the fourth game of a road trip, our fans should be proud of our guys, because I know I am.”

- Johnson’s thoughts immediately after the game.

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Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone
 
Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)